Chapter 900: The Pitiful Great Emperor
At the edge of the Imperial Palace, a man and a beast lowered their heads, seemingly doing something.
The Qiongqi's sharp claws continuously carved something into the ground. Although each stroke contained no power at all, it still made Lin Feng, standing nearby, feel an infinite mystery, as if he was about to sink into it.
The patterns carved by the Qiongqi's claws resembled the Sacred Mark trajectories he had seen before, except that power had not yet been infused into these patterns.
As it carved, the Qiongqi's body kept moving, tracing along the palace's perimeter, continuously drawing one pattern after another. Occasionally, it would coldly glance at Lin Feng beside it, then mutter to itself: "In the past, I, the Emperor, could carve out infinitely profound power with a casual wave of my hand. If I were to recover my strength, I could annihilate a Venerable with a flick of my wrist. And now, this waste of an ant actually makes me, the Emperor, carve bit by bit."
"Isn't this for the safety of both of us? Protecting the entire palace, if a Venerable comes, we'll kill him in one strike." Lin Feng smiled innocently. For now, he let this guy have his moment of pride; he couldn't afford to hurt his ego. Inwardly, he cursed that this former Great Emperor indeed had a foul temper and was insufferably arrogant. Of course, this was just a matter of perspective. If Yan Di really were at the Great Emperor realm, this temperament would be fitting. Who would dare speak ill of him? But now, the tiger had fallen to the plains... being bullied by him, Lin Feng. How tragic.
"Don't worry. A mere Venerable? Once I, the Emperor, carve a massive killing Sacred Mark over the entire palace, I'll kill any who come, one by one."
The Qiongqi said proudly. At this moment, it finally had some dignity. Before, if a few words didn't sit well, Lin Feng would torment it.
Lin Feng didn't respond, just kept smiling innocently. At the same time, his eyes were fixed on the Qiongqi's movements. However, with his current level, he couldn't understand any of it. The power of Sacred Marks contained a kind of heavenly force, the power of the Dao. Yet now, it was calm and ordinary, showing no reaction at all, like ordinary patterns. But strangely, he found it extremely profound.
The Qiongqi didn't place the Essence Crystals into the patterns yet. Without other materials, only having Essence Crystals meant it had to use the Essence as a guide for killing—arranging a killing Sacred Mark.
That bastard Lin Feng wanted to protect the entire palace, so it had to carve slowly, walking a full circle around the palace, tracing out an enormous pattern trajectory and connecting them all together.
Lin Feng, watching from the side, grew more and more shocked. A Sacred Mark that surrounded the entire palace—such a massive Sacred Mark was something he had never seen before. Just how powerful would it be?
Sacred Marks were already an extremely profound and formidable technique. Ordinary Venerables couldn't even carve them. And now, this guy was carving such a huge Sacred Mark. It showed just how monstrous he had been in the past. Truly worthy of being a Great Emperor. Fortunately, his current cultivation was pitiful; otherwise, he could annihilate Lin Feng countless times with a wave of his hand. Thinking of this, Lin Feng felt a chill. He had been tormenting a Great Emperor every day. In the future, he absolutely had to stay ahead of him in cultivation forever; otherwise, he would die a miserable death.
Carving a complete Sacred Mark around the entire vast palace only took a few hours.
Lin Feng watched as that Qiongqi actually raised its two front paws, clapping them together like a human, and couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Finished already?" Lin Feng asked weakly.
"You call this fast? In the past, I, the Emperor, could do this with a wave of my hand. Now it took me this long." The Qiongqi shot Lin Feng a disdainful glare, then extended a sharp claw and said, "Hand over the Essence Crystals. I need to embed them into the Sacred Mark."
Lin Feng reluctantly handed over the Storage Ring. The Qiongqi took it with an air of superiority, then released a wisp of demonic aura, carving it into the Sacred Mark trajectory. Instantly, the otherwise plain trajectory began to glow. The demonic aura flowed along the patterns, instantly enveloping the entire outer perimeter of the palace.
The Qiongqi took out an Essence Crystal and, with its claw, directly stuffed it into the pattern. Lin Feng only saw the Essence Crystal sink into it, a flash of light disappearing as if it had never been there.
"That works too..."
Lin Feng rolled his eyes. This Essence Crystal contained terrifying Essence power. Yet when the Qiongqi stuffed it into the carved Sacred Mark, it directly merged in and vanished, as if it had been absorbed. Truly wondrous. The power of Sacred Marks was indeed formidable, containing the Dao of Heaven and Earth. At his current level, he couldn't comprehend it.
Once the Sacred Mark was carved, the Qiongqi's movements became much faster. It selected Essence Crystals and continuously stuffed them into the Sacred Mark, finishing everything quickly.
The light dissipated, and everything dimmed again. Around the palace, it was as if nothing had happened. No abnormalities could be seen at all. The carved patterns had all disappeared, as if they had never existed.
Lin Feng probed with his divine sense but found nothing.
"Don't bother trying. I, the Emperor, carved a killing Sacred Mark. If it's not triggered, even a Venerable can't detect it, let alone you." The Qiongqi said smugly.
"So it's all set up already?" Lin Feng grinned foolishly.
"Nonsense. Are you doubting me, the Emperor? As soon as a Venerable comes, he's dead for sure." The Qiongqi said irritably.
"Wouldn't dare." Lin Feng kept his foolish smile, then reached out his hand toward the Qiongqi, curling his finger.
"What are you doing?" The Qiongqi eyed Lin Feng warily.
"The Storage Ring and the Essence Crystals. Give them back to me." Lin Feng said with a simpleton's grin.
The Qiongqi glared at Lin Feng angrily: "Bastard."
"Are you giving them or not?" Lin Feng's expression darkened. The Qiongqi trembled with rage. This damned ant, this bastard.
"Looks like I need to loosen your bones for you." Lin Feng rubbed his hands together and gave a silly laugh.
"The killing Sacred Mark I set up will only kill Venerables. If other Heavenly Martial Realm experts come in to slaughter, I hope you can handle it." The Qiongqi glared at Lin Feng, then tossed the Storage Ring back to him.
"Uh..."
"..."
Lin Feng was instantly speechless. Only kill Venerables? It can kill Venerables but not Heavenly Martial Realm cultivators?
Watching the Qiongqi swagger away, Lin Feng immediately chased after it, speaking gently: "Yan Di, you are a Great Emperor. Dealing with some Heavenly Martial Realm people would be as easy as flipping your hand."
"Scram!" The Qiongqi said haughtily.
"Yan Di, would those Heavenly Martial Realm experts dare to offend your dignity? That would be suicide."
"Yan Di..."
Lin Feng's voice kept coming from afar. He was extremely frustrated at the moment. He had miscalculated. This Qiongqi, once its pride flared up, it wouldn't bother with him.
"Yan Di, if an enemy comes to our door, I'll have you lead the charge. If something goes wrong..."
"Bastard!" The Qiongqi's angry roar drifted from a distance, its whole body trembling with rage. This despicable, shameless, bridge-burning bastard dared to threaten him again. It wished it could tear Lin Feng apart.
...
Lin Feng lay on a stone platform, watching the Qiongqi busily working in the distance, a faint smile on his lips. His eyes kept moving, as if he was plotting something.
A Great Emperor, carving a killing Sacred Mark with Essence Crystals, claiming that even a Venerable would die if they came. This guy probably had countless tricks up his sleeve. If he could coax some out of him and turn the entire palace into a cultivation holy land, it probably wouldn't be too difficult.
But that guy was both stubborn and proud. Unless his life was threatened, getting him to do things probably wouldn't be easy. He couldn't even get a few powerful cultivation techniques out of him. Too frustrating. Having a great Buddha by his side but not being able to use him—that feeling was maddening.
No, in the future, he had to find ways to squeeze things out of this guy.
The pitiful Qiongqi was still busy carving Sacred Marks and formations, while Lin Feng lay leisurely, thinking about how to scheme against it.
After some time, the Qiongqi finished everything and coldly glanced at Lin Feng.
"Done?" Lin Feng's eyes flickered, and he jumped up with a foolish grin.
"Mm." The Qiongqi nodded.
"Then, the stuff..." Lin Feng scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. The Qiongqi gritted its teeth at this bastard, threw the Storage Ring back to Lin Feng, and cursed: "Do you think I, the Emperor, would covet your few Essence Crystals? In my eyes, they're no different from ordinary stones."
"Of course, you are the former Great Emperor. But to me, this stuff is a treasure." Lin Feng smiled. "You've been busy for so long, go rest."
"Mm." The Qiongqi held its head high and left, disappearing in a flash. Soon, the Qiongqi appeared in a corner, opened its huge mouth, and spat out a few crystals. They were indeed Essence Crystals.
The pitiful Great Emperor had secretly hidden a few Essence Crystals in its mouth!
PS: It's the 30th. The flowers are about to wither. I beg for flowers! This is the final push!